Dealing with the hand

Delhi: It’s that phase of the electoral calendar when new friendships are made and old ones re-negotiated. With general elections just two months away, the Congress is under tremendous pressure from its allies to firm up its pre-poll alliances.

Pawar (Left) and Mulayam will not oppose each other in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls

Both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Pawar have made it clear that they would prefer to fight the elections under a united UPA umbrella. The Congress disagrees and wants to fight on a separate platform but with individual alliances at the state level.

It has been negotiating an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the last four months and both sides are still to agree on the numbers. Apart from that, it’s been a month since the Congress and NCP began seat-sharing talks in Maharashtra. The NCP wants an equal split while the Congress wants to go with the 2004 formula—21 seats for NCP out of 48 seats in the state.

After meeting Pawar last week, SP General Secretary Amar Singh announced that while they had no problems with Manmohan Singh as their leader, “if Sharad Pawar or Mulayam get a chance, they will not oppose each other”.

A statement not without an ominous undertone. “The SP saved the UPA. We should remember that and extend a hand of cooperation to them,” says D.P. Tripathi, NCP general secretary. The message is clear: the allies are not waiting any longer for the Congress to get its act together.

Do You Like This Story? Awesome! Now share the story Too bad. Tell us what you didn't like in the comments